Budget Beater Build: 2004 Dakota

[AuroraGirl]

So, my daily driver Ram decided that today would be a great day to start puking antifreeze out of the upper tank area of the radiator. Starting tomorrow, the Dakota is going to get commuter duty until I get the Ram fixed. I actually took the Dakota to Pittsburgh last week for it's first highway run. Other than desperately needing an alignment, it did well.

does that use a degas bottle

 

[SirRobyn0]

hows the blower motor resistor LOL

If that's directed at me the blower motor resistor in my Dakota is fine, but the blower switch is a bit hinky. Sometimes you have to jiggle it to get the speed you want to work. Those switches have been out of production for a long, long time. I've taken it apart and cleaned the contacts a few times but after 400K it just needs a full professional rebuild. If the truck were to see a lot more road use I'd probably do it but for now I don't wanna spend the money

 

[AuroraGirl]

If that's directed at me the blower motor resistor in my Dakota is fine, but the blower switch is a bit hinky. Sometimes you have to jiggle it to get the speed you want to work. Those switches have been out of production for a long, long time. I've taken it apart and cleaned the contacts a few times but after 400K it just needs a full professional rebuild. If the truck were to see a lot more road use I'd probably do it but for now I don't wanna spend the money

The dakotas of that era have notoriously bad switch assemblies and resistors. take a look at the resistor and make sure no melting is going on the terminals. i believe its by the passenger foot area somewhere

 

[Midnightmoon]

does that use a degas bottle

It's a 2007 Ram Cummins. It's pushing out around the overflow fitting and blowing it back on the air box.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Midnightmoon]

The dakotas of that era have notoriously bad switch assemblies and resistors. take a look at the resistor and make sure no melting is going on the terminals. i believe its by the passenger foot area somewhere

It's funny that you mentioned the HVAC resistor. The afore mentioned Ram of mine eats them like candy. I keep one in the truck with me all the time and at least one on the shelf at home. I may get 3 months out of one if I'm lucky.

 

[AuroraGirl]

It's funny that you mentioned the HVAC resistor. The afore mentioned Ram of mine eats them like candy. I keep one in the truck with me all the time and at least one on the shelf at home. I may get 3 months out of one if I'm lucky.

on dakotas, Ive heard that the combination replacement of the switch and the resistor fixes that for some of those owners, because once one gets toast, then the other does, and then no matter how many of 1 you buy you will always be toasting the new ones

it may be the case there

 

[SirRobyn0]

on dakotas, Ive heard that the combination replacement of the switch and the resistor fixes that for some of those owners, because once one gets toast, then the other does, and then no matter how many of 1 you buy you will always be toasting the new ones

it may be the case there

On the Dakota the are on the passenger side firewall accessed from the engine compartment. I think I've put 4 or 5 in mine in the time I've had it.

 

[Midnightmoon]

on dakotas, Ive heard that the combination replacement of the switch and the resistor fixes that for some of those owners, because once one gets toast, then the other does, and then no matter how many of 1 you buy you will always be toasting the new ones

it may be the case there

I wouldn't hesitate to replace the controller if I could find one cheaply. None of the lights have worked in mine for years.

 

[AuroraGirl]

I wouldn't hesitate to replace the controller if I could find one cheaply. None of the lights have worked in mine for years.

oof
That actually makes me wonder then about that theory because it sounds like your bulbs were toasted, it shouldnt all be burned out, ya know? That would explain killing the resistor

 

[Midnightmoon]

oof
That actually makes me wonder then about that theory because it sounds like your bulbs were toasted, it shouldnt all be burned out, ya know? That would explain killing the resistor

That very well could be. It wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen with that truck.

So, today went well. The Dakota ran great on my work commute. I never had a vehicle with leather seats before other than my Vette that doesn't get driven in the cold. I can tell you that I don't think I'm a fan of them. Maybe if they were heated it would be different. But those things were rather chilly.

I got the antifreeze leak fixed in the old Ram today. So, the Dakota will go back to standby mode for now. So far, I'm really happy with it.

 

[SirRobyn0]

That very well could be. It wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen with that truck.

So, today went well. The Dakota ran great on my work commute. I never had a vehicle with leather seats before other than my Vette that doesn't get driven in the cold. I can tell you that I don't think I'm a fan of them. Maybe if they were heated it would be different. But those things were rather chilly.

I got the antifreeze leak fixed in the old Ram today. So, the Dakota will go back to standby mode for now. So far, I'm really happy with it.

I'm not a fan of leather either. Cold in the winter and screaming hot in the summer no thank you. So then to combat that they have heated seats and some newer vehicles cooled seats as well. I don't see the appeal. My 96 Grand Cherokee unfortunately has leather seats, I keep covers on them, because I don't like them! I have thick covers on them which helps some.

 

[Midnightmoon]

I'll look forward to seeing how you like daily driving it for a bit. I'm also curious what kind of gas mileage you'll get. My biggest complaint about my dakota is the the mileage isn't much better than the square.

Pulling this thread back up to answer this question. We've put approx 1500 miles on it since I got it back on the road. It's averaging 14 mpg. Not great, but not bad for an occasional use vehicle.

 

[Grit dog]

Pulling this thread back up to answer this question. We've put approx 1500 miles on it since I got it back on the road. It's averaging 14 mpg. Not great, but not bad for an occasional use vehicle.

That’s 1mpg better than the Dooragno I just picked up. 318/3.55 truck. Same miles as yours too. Think I could get 14-15mpg out of it if I kept the highway speeds down. It also has aggressive 31-10.50s on it but the size matches the speedo and gps within 1mph at highway speeds.
A 30 mile run on a flat stretch of highway at 60-80mph not much traffic said 17mpg on the lie o meter.
I secretly hoped it would do better than say the ole Tahoe. But 13-14mpg is aboot it for any half ton ish 4x4 older V8 rig regardless of whether it’s a pickup or suv. Even if it’s only 3/4 scale!
Great little rig though. Runs like a Swiss watch. Needs a full fluid maintenance and some typical 100m mile stuff like shocks and brake shoes but old small block Dodge engines are pretty close to small block GMs for being bulletproof! And it definitely out kicks its coverage for the price.

 

[DoubleDingo]

If it's free, it's for me! Nice score and those repairs should last longer than the factory mounts did. That is a nice looking little truck.

 

[Grit dog]

Re cloth vs leather seats. I don’t much care either way as long as it’s comfortable. Except when talking old bombers like in this thread.
Nothing is so yummy as a set of old cloth car seats of unknown history, complete with dirt, food spills, pet stains, 15 year old tipped over lattes, farts, sharts and potentially some pee and ******!
I’ll take leather for $200 Alex!